Pod Save America Hosts Call on Democrats to Cut All Israel Military Aid, No Longer Accept AIPAC Funding
Jews, Israelis Targeted in Austria Amid Surge in Antisemitic Incidents; Local Jewish Community Calls for Action
‘All of Our Strength’: Over 1,000 Pro-Israel Activists Gather in DC for Solidarity Conference
‘Devastated’: Wesley LePatner, Killed in Manhattan Mass Shooting, Was a Jewish Communal, Philanthropic Leader
Sen. Angus King Vows to No Longer Vote for Israel Military Aid Until Gaza Conditions Improve
Europe Won’t Pressure Israel to ‘Commit Suicide’ Amid Gaza Backlash, Palestinian State Push, Says Israeli FM
Israel’s National Soccer Coach Attacked in Athens Before Soccer Fans Chant ‘F–K Israel, Free Palestine’ at Match
New York Judge Sentences Neo-Nazi to 5 Years for Livestreaming Bomb Threats Against Jewish Hospitals
US Pressures Lebanon to Issue Cabinet Decision to Disarm Hezbollah Before Talks Continue
UK Plans to Recognize Palestinian State in September Unless Israel Meets Conditions, Starmer Says
Nazi Memorabilia Bought at Auction for $660,000 Given to Jewish Group for Safekeeping
Error: Contact form not found.
by JNS.org
A customer holds a Polish copy of Adolf Hitler’s ‘Mein Kampf’ at a bookstore in Wroclaw, Feb. 23, 2005. Photo: Reuters / Pierre Logwin PA / WS.
JNS.org – A Lebanese-born Swiss businessman who purchased Nazi-era memorabilia at an auction in Munich last week donated the items to a Jewish group to prevent them from falling into the wrong hands.
Abdallah Chatila spent about $660,000 on 10 items during the auction held by the Munich-based auction house Hermann Historica, according to BBC.
The items he purchased, including a collapsible top hat owned by Adolf Hitler, Hermann Goering’s copy of Mein Kampf, a cigar box, and typewriter, were donated to the Keren Hayesod association, an Israeli fundraising group, which will decide what to do with them.
“Far-right populism and antisemitism are spreading all over Europe and the world,” Chatila told the Swiss newspaper Le Matin Dimanche. “I did not want these objects to fall into the wrong hands and to be used by people with dishonest intentions.”
He told Deutsche Welle, “I strongly hope that such delicate items will be exhibited in a Holocaust museum that will have a better use than any other entity.”
The 45-year-old, who runs a multimillion-dollar diamond business in Geneva and is ranked one of Switzerland’s 300 wealthiest people, said he would have purchased more items, but failed to win all the bids at the auction.
The head of the European Jewish Association, Rabbi Menachem Margolin, said on Sunday that he was “bowled over” by Chatila’s donation. “In a cynical world, a real act of kindness, of generosity and solidarity,” he said in a statement.
